The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for therapeutically treating spinal discomfort and injury.
The human spinal column comprises a series of vertebral blocks extending from the occiput to the sacrum, or tailbone. The individual vertebra are united by longitudinal ligaments and by intervertebral discs disposed between laminae of cartilage. The spinal vertebra house the spinal cord and provide intervertebral outlets through which pass spinal nerves extending from the spinal cord.
Misalignment of the vertebra or degeneration of the intervertebral discs, combined with compression of the spinal column from the weight of the upper body, can result in pinching and impingement of the spinal nerves. Pinching of the nerves can cause pain and impingement can interfere with the flow of neurological impulses, which can lead to various muscular disabilities. Such spinal discomfort has been treated using traction, which is the technique of applying tension to the spinal column to decompress the spinal column and open the intervertebral disc spaces and/or to permit realignment of the vertebra. With the intervertebral disc spaces opened and with the vertebra realigned, pinching or impingement of the spinal nerves is alleviated, thus reducing pain and restoring the normal flow of neurological impulses. Typically, traction is applied by applying a tensile force, generated by weights with ropes and pulleys, to a patient's lower body by means of some type of harness and holding an upper portion of the patient's body stationary, thus placing the spinal column in a state of tension.
The benefits of performing muscular and skeletal rehabilitation on a patient while the patient is at least partially immersed in warm water have been recognized. Warm water relaxes muscles and assists in facilitating bodily articulations. Moreover, the buoyancy of water reduces the gravitational weight load on the patient's spine and joints. For these reasons neurosurgeons and orthopedists have recently begun prescribing joint and spinal rehabilitation to be performed with the patient in a warm pool. The benefits of applying traction while the patient's body is immersed in warm water also have been recognized. Indeed, the prior art literature describes different traction methods which are performed on a patient immersed in water.
For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,105,804 and 5,258,018 to Van Nostrand disclose an apparatus and method whereby traction is applied to a patient floating in water in a spa that is deep enough so that the patient's feet do not touch the bottom of the spa when the patient is in a generally upright posture. Floatation devices are placed around the patient under the arm and/or around the neck, and weights are attached to the patient's legs or hips. The weights, acting in a direction generally opposite to the direction of the buoyant force of the floatation devices, place the patient's spine in a state of tension as the patient floats in the spa. The patient can remain stationary with the static load of the weights stretching the spine, or the patient can perform leg, arm, and hip-flexing exercises while floating in the spa.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,126 to Perry also discloses a method whereby traction is applied to a patient partially submerged in a water pool. The patient is suspended generally vertically within the water pool by means of a support frame above the patient to which is attached a harness which holds up the patient by the head and neck and/or by a floatation device, such as an inflatable vest. Weight is attached by means of a tether to the patient's hips and neither the weights nor the patient's feet are permitted to touch the bottom of the pool. Accordingly, the patient's spine is in a state of tension.
In the prior art traction methods, including those performed while the patient is partially immersed in a pool, the spinal traction force is a static force. That is, the patient's spine is subjected to a constant tensile force that does not vary. Where the traction force is static, relatively large loads can be required to achieve the desired spinal decompression. Loads of up to 70 pounds are not unheard of and the Van Nostrand patents discussed above call for loads of 10 to 20 pound buoyant weight. Such large weights can be awkward and uncomfortable to the patient and can lead to injury if improperly used.
By applying dynamic traction; that is, by subjecting the spine to tensile forces that vary between minimum and maximum extremes, certain benefits can be realized. Dynamic loads can produce therapeutic effects employing external traction loads of small magnitude compared with those used with static traction techniques. In addition, dynamic traction can set the spine in motion and effect dynamic spinal adjustments to alleviate spinal discomfort. The prior art traction techniques, however, do not provide for the application of dynamic traction, and therefore, these benefits have heretofore gone unrealized.